nebney



(ModeL) M. J. NERNEY.

NUT LOCK.

Patented D60. 25, 1883.

WITNESSES 010 0;

A fforne y s PATENT QFFICE.

MARTIN J. NERNEY, OF GREEN ISLAND, NEV YORK.

NUT-LOCK.

SEECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 290,793,

dated December 25, 1883.

Application filed November 1, 1853. (Modem 2" 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN J. NERNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Green Island, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nut-Locks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in nut-locks; and it has for its objects, first, to provide a device for securing nuts in a locked position on the bolts with which they are associated by means which will not become disengaged from each other by the vibratory motions imposed upon railroad-rails by the percussion of the car-wheels; second, to provide a device for securing the nuts in a locked position at every small turn of such nuts and of such shape as to obtain strength.

With these ends in view my invention consists, essentially, in the employment of a washer having its periphery provided with teeth of an equilateral -triangle form, having raised lugs to receive the nut or made integral with the nut, in combination with a pawl having its free end of the same configuration as the space between the teeth, as will be more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and on which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of two adjoining sections, showing my improved nut-lock applied thereto. Fig. 2 represents a transverse sectional view of a rail and its fishbars, also showing my invention applied thereto; Fig. 3, a cross-sectional view of one of the fish-bars and the eye of the pawl, showing the head of the rivet, partly upset upon the pawl; Fig. 4, a detached perspective view of the washer, and Fig. 5 a sectional view of the washer and the nut made integral.

The letter A refers to the two adjoining sections of the rails of the railway-track, and the letter B to the fish-bars applied thereto, these parts being of the ordinary or any approved construction. The connecting-bolts O are provided with square shanks adjoining their heads, and are passed through the web of the rail and the fish-bars in the usual manner; but by preference are not allowed to extend through the nuts for a purpose which will presently appear. On these bolts, respectively, are fitted the washer D and the nut E, the former being provided on its outer face with a series of raised lugs, I, within which is formed a seat, G, for the reception of the nuts E. These washers are also provided on their peripheries with a series or close succession of teeth, the form of which is of an equilateral triangle.

The letter H refers to a pivoted pawl, the free end of which is preferably weighted, while its termination is provided with a notch, the distance between which and the lower side of the pawl is about equal to the side of a tooth from its apex to its base. The rivet is provided with a broad head, a portion of which may be upset over the edge of the pawl to prevent the latter from rebounding out of place, as hereinafter specified.

The object in making the teeth of the washers of triangular form is to insure their greatest possible strength, and also to admit of the pawl being placed in looking position. without turning the nut to any practically appreciable extent beyond the point or position which it will occupy when locked. It is further to be observed that the pivotal point of the pawl is such as to bring the lower side of the pawl substantially in line with the upper side of the lower engaging-tooth, while the termination or outer end of the pawl is substantially in the same plane with the adjacent side of the other engaging-tooth.

In applying the device, the nut is screwed home or to its greatest extent upon the bolt, the pawl then dropped into locking position, and the side of the head of a rivet struck with a hammer and made to impinge firmly against the pawl, whereby it is prevented from flying or rebounding out of place by the percussion 0f the wheels upon the rails.

In some instances it is desired to make the nut and washer integral, and to provide the aperture in the washer with screw-threads. It is desirable to have the bolt extend only to within a short distance of the outer face of the nut, which prevents the threads, which would otherwise protrude, from becoming battered and clogged with rust. The object in avoiding this protrusion of the bolt is to allow of the easy removal of the nut when it is desired to replace the rail, and this is important because it frequently happens that the threads are so marred as to makeit diffieult to remove the nut without causing the threads thereof to be stripped.

To remove the nut it is turned a slight distance to the right, and the lower engagingtooth immediately starts the pawl upward. It can then be raised a sufficient distance to allow the direction of the nut to be reversed. The close succession of teeth of the washer,

which is obtained by reason' of their shape,

enables the nut to be locked at every short turn.

It has been found in practice that washers having few teeth, when the nut is screwed to its utmost tension, often reach but fail to pass the next succeeding tooth, thereby allowing considerable play to the fish-plates, and causing sufficient friction 011 the thread of the bolt to wear the same smooth in a very short time, and render any subsequent attempt to tighten the nut impossible.

In order that the particular advancement or improvement which I have made may be the more readily understood and distinguished by the public from what has heretofore been done in the art to which my invention relates, I desire to state that in Letters Patent granted to "Wm. \Valter, July 2, 1878, and numbered 205,7 05, a nut is shown and described which is provided with ratchet teeth formed on the lower part thereof, and with which engages a springdog connected to a plate interposed between the nut and the surface against which it is secured. I also desire to state that in Letters Patent granted to Robert Gilliland, September 20, 1870, and numbered 107,609, a washer is shown having arecess, in which is fitted a nut, the washer being also provided with a series of hooked teeth, with which engages a pivoted pawl. It will be observed that in neither case are the teeth of an equilateral-triangle form, and that owing to their shape the pawl and the washer cannot be disengaged without turning the nut forward sufficiently to allow the teeth of the washer to advance beyond the end of the pawl. Neither is the 'pivot of the pawl adapted to be riveted over its edge, whereby the pawl is prevented from flying out of engagement with the teeth.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a nut-lock, the combination, withthe ,railsections and their fish-plates, of the bolt,

the nut, and the washer, constructed to hold the nut from turning, having a series of equilateral-triangle teeth, and the pivoted pawl, having its end approximately of the shape of, and adapted to fit between, the said teeth, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a nut-lock, of a washer provided with a series of equilateraltriangle teeth on its periphery, raised lugs on its outer face forming a nut-seat, and a nut fitting therein, with the pivoted pawl of ap proximately the shape of, and adapted to fit between, adapted to be impinged against the pawl, whereby it is held substantially as described.

3. In a nut-lock, the washer, having a series of equilateral-triangle teeth, and a series of raised lugs between which is formed aunt-seat, in combination with a nut provided with a screw-thread and adapted to fit therein, sub stantially as described.

4. In aunt-lock, the combination, with the fish-bar, of a pivoted pawl terminating in a point agreeing approximately in shape with the space the teeth, an d thebroad-headed rivet,

between the adjacent sides of two equilateral-tri angle teeth, and the broad-headed rivet one side of which extends over the edge of the pawl, and is adapted to be impinged against the pawl, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignaturein presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN J. NERNEY.

liitn esses:

GEORGE FURINGTON, MICHAEL F. JENNINGS. 

